Adding Machine: A Musical

Composed by Joshua SchmidtLibretto by Jason Loewith and Joshua SchmidtBased on the play The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice

Musical adaptation of Elmer Rice's incendiary 1923 play.

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RECOGNITION / AWARDS

Darkly comic and heartbreakingly beautiful, Adding Machine, a musical adaptation of Elmer Rice's incendiary 1923 play, tells the story of Mr. Zero, who after 25 years of service to his company is replaced by a mechanical adding machine. In a vengeful rage, he murders his boss. An eclectic score gives passionate and memorable voice to this stylish and stylized show, which follows Zero's journey to the afterlife in the Elysian Fields where he is met with one last chance for romance and redemption.

REVIEWS"CRITICS PICK! A brillant musical! A superb libretto by Loewith and Schmidt and music that gets under your skin and stays there." - New York Times, Read More

CASTING

CASTING ATTRIBUTES

CASTING NOTES

Plus SATB chorus

CHORUS SIZE

Small

MR. ZERO (Tenor/Baritone) - Male, 40s-50s. "Antihero" who murders his boss after being replaced by an adding machine after 25 years on the job. MRS. ZERO (Soprano) - Female, 45. Mr. Zero's wife of 25 years. Chronic complainer and gossipy unkempt housewife. DAISY DOROTHEA DEVORE (Mezzo Soprano) - Female, middle-aged. Mr. Zero's assistant book-keeper who is infatuated with him. SHRDLU (Tenor) - Male. Jailmate who bears a great amount of guilt and confides in Mr. Zero. THE BOSS (Same actor plays FIXER & CHARLES; does not sing) - Male, middle-aged. BOSS: Mr. Zero's boss. Informs Mr. Zero about his termination which results in his own death. FIXER: an allegorical figure with wings suggesting an angel. Points out Zero's life has been worthless. CHARLES: An immortal, he functions in the place where souls are prepared for reincarnation and is charged with dispatching Zero back to earth

Elmer Rice (born Sept. 28, 1892, New York City—died May 8, 1967, Southampton, Hampshire, Eng.) was an American playwright, director, and novelist noted for his innovative and polemical plays. Rice graduated from the New York Law School in 1912 but soon turned to writing plays. His first work, the melodramatic On Trial (1914), was the first play to employ on stage the motion-picture technique of ... view full profile

Other Elmer Rice titles:

Josh Schmidt is the award-winning composer of Adding Machine (Lucille Lortel Award - Best Musical; Outer Critic’s Circle Award - Best Score & Best Off-Broadway Musical; Joseph Jefferson Award - Best Musical; as well as 4 Obie Awards, 9 Drama Desk nominations, and Drama League nomination for Best Musical). Adding Machine was also heralded as one of the ten best events of 2008 in The New York Times, ... view full profile

Jason Loewith produced and co-wrote the world premiere of Adding Machine: A Musical at Next Theatre Company, where he served as Artistic Director from 2002-2008. The show ran six months Off-Broadway, winning Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best New Musical of the Season, as well as four OBIE Awards for direction, design, and performance; and is published by Samuel French. At ... view full profile

Other Jason Loewith titles:

Ever feel like you want to kill your boss? Lately, Mr. Zero does. He's spent twenty five years at his mundane job, only to be replaced by a machine. On top of that, Mrs. Zero is really starting to get on his nerves. In a fit of rage, he kills his boss and finds himself on trial in the afterlife. Equal parts unsettling and deliciously entertaining, 'Adding Machine' is the perfect "anti-musical". It's a welcomed change from the predictability of shows with more optimistic characters and show tunes. Joshua Schmidt has composed a dissonant score that is reminiscent of Kurt Weil's 'Three Penny Opera' and Sondheim's 'Sweeney Todd'. Who'd have thought that songs about wanting to kill your wife and maim your boss could evoke such haunting melodies? Though short-lived off broadway, 'Adding Machine' is an underground gem of a musical with a libretto that will stay with you long after you leave the theater.